King Jesus – God’s plan of redemption
The Old Testament prophets spoke again and again of a coming kingdom on the earth. Abraham caught a glimpse of it, Moses saw it from afar, David learned about it directly from God, and the prophets filled in the details. They foresaw a time when God’s Messiah would rule the world from David’s throne in Jerusalem.
Today, we shall look at the mystery and the glory wrought through the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and the biggest announcement before and ever since by Angel Gabriel…
The angel came to Mary who was a virgin in Nazareth (a tiny village in a remote corner of the Roman Empire and made a series of incredible announcements as recorded in Luke 1:31-33 and said;
- You will conceive and bear a son.
- You will call his name Jesus.
- He will be great.
- He will be called the Son of the Highest.
- He will rule over the house of Jacob forever.
- His kingdom will never end.
Mary could have followed with many questions, but she asks only one. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1 v. 35). Notice how God answered through the Angel in verse 35-36.
- The Holy Spirit will come upon you.
- The power of the Highest will overshadow you.
- The child will be holy.
- He will be the Son of God.
Given this overwhelming information, it is all to Mary’s credit that she responded by saying, “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38).
Even now after 2000 years, the angel’s message seems mind-blowing. To me it was profound and prophetic especially the last phrase of verse 33, “And of his kingdom there will be no end.”
The Kingdom of our God will have no end. Everything else that we see, touch, feel or smell will come to an end BUT God’s kingdom will reign forever… this is what is pretty amazing!!
Let us go back to the story of Mary and the Angel of the Lord …did you realize that the virgin birth of Jesus was totally normal in every respect except one? Mary become pregnant with contact with a seed. It was a different seed. The laws of reproduction that God created weren’t suspended. Everything was exactly like all the millions of other births except that God used the seed of His Word instead of the seed of a man to get Mary pregnant.
That’s why John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
Jesus was literally God’s Word becoming flesh. God used His Word as the sperm that conceived Jesus.
When God created the heavens and the earth, He spoke to them into existence. He spoke the Word through an Angel to Mary as a seed and she conceived Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11:3 says, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
So, God created everything by His Word. That’s how He creates. When it came time to create the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), God had to speak to Him into existence. He did so through His assigned Angel to virgin Mary.
Then when Mary received the message of Gabriel, she humbled herself and said, “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38)
She received God’s Word into her womb, and the conception of the Messiah took place.
Likewise, that’s how 1 Peter 1:23 says we are born again, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”
The power of the Word spoken in Faith
The same Word that was spoken to Mary – and conceived Jesus Christ is the same Word (seed) that has to be planted in our hearts to conceive a miracle. Example: The new birth doesn’t just happen any more than babies just happen. Children have to be conceived, and so does salvation or any other miracle from God. We have to be born again by the incorruptible seed of God’s Word (1 Pet. 1:23).
Once a seed is planted, there is a nurturing and maturing process. That’s where prayer comes in. Prayer is like water and fertilizer or incubation to a seed. But if you water or fertilize barren ground, nothing will happen. There has to be the planting of a seed first.
Likewise, we have mistakenly tried to only pray our miracles into existence. Prayer is important, but you can’t conceive through prayer. The seed of God’s Word has to be sown.
Romans 10:14-17 says, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
We would consider a woman crazy who is trying to have a child without following the natural laws of reproduction. But in the spiritual realm, Christians try to give birth to miracles all the time without ever planting God’s Word in their hearts. It just doesn’t work that way.
Conclusion
Christmas is all about God’s love and mercy, not His damnation. It’s spotlighting God’s unconditional love for us as it should be done all year long. It’s focusing on the good news of God’s love and not the bad news of our failures. That’s the Gospel of peace that the angel of God brought, and that should be our message too.
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